Gunning for a New PR? There’s an App for That! – US soldier creates WOD programming smartphone application

Good programming builds great athletes—and even better soldiers. First Lieutenant Derek Wales learned this fact during his deployment to Kuwait with the US Army. He has since taken that knowledge and combined it with an engineering degree and background in CrossFit training to create a smartphone app that will help any WOD enthusiast make rapid improvements in his or her PRs. And it all began in the Sandbox. 

Since renamed CrossFit-Spartan Shield, the Sandbox was a tent in the middle of a sunbaked desert. “The sub-floor was made of aluminum emergency runway material that we covered with rubber mats,” says Wales. “The weights were hand-me-downs from Iraq. Pull-up bars were welded from old pipe, and soldiers fabricated much of the equipment we needed but didn’t have.”

It was, in Wales’ words, “Awesome.” While much of the soldiers’ spare time was required to keep the makeshift box clear of blowing sand, it was more than worth it. Says Wales, “Everybody there was motivated to be in the best shape they could be. We would routinely work out when it was 120 degrees, and the eight or nine unpaid coaches would coordinate schedules so that someone was always there to teach technique and lead workouts from six in the morning to ten at night.”

It was here that Wales began programming WODs for over 100 eager military athletes. This often required creating custom workouts for injured soldiers. “We lift and carry heavy stuff and move over broken terrain,” he says. “In any given year, 25 percent of soldiers will suffer an orthopedic injury that involves a doctor’s treatment. Usually these would be ankle, knee, or back injuries—so I would primarily program around those.” 

When he realized that he could create an algorithm that would do much of the work for him—one that would prove valuable not only to soldiers training in Spartan conditions but also to civilian CrossFitters at all levels—WOD Programmer was born. Available on both Android and Apple platforms for $2.99 US, the app enables anyone to build, log, and track custom workouts tailored to individual fitness level, goals, and available equipment. It also includes a library of video tutorials illustrating proper form.

“Knowing what right ‘looks like’ is really important for the average person,” says Wales, “not only for progressing but for avoiding injury. I wanted to build an app that had something to offer everyone, from the casual CrossFit mom trying to fit in a workout all the way up to the most advanced fitness athlete. The user interface is set up to make it easy for anyone to build workout plans customized to their goals.” 

Not only can you select the equipment you have available, enabling the app to generate practical workouts, you can also allocate percentages to types of workouts, duration, and various exercise groups. Says Wales, “I built all of this into WOD Programmer to help people progress as quickly as possible, whether their objective is to tone and slim or increase their maxes in Olympic lifts in preparation for the CrossFit Open.” 

With an Average 4.7 user rating on Google Play and 4.5 on iTunes, the app appears to be receiving a lot of love from the CrossFit community. Check it out for yourself at www.wodprogrammer.com.